This man was fired for getting stranded in Hurricane Harvey

On Monday, Adam Schrader was set to start a new job as the managing editor of the Colorado County Citizen in Columbus, Texas. But then Hurricane Harvey struck, and Schrader is out of a job.

The paper's offices sit in a town at the mouth of the Colorado River in a town that's currently being evacuated. Schrader, who moved from New York to Columbus, Texas this year, had traveled the 77 miles to Houston to do a freelance assignment for the New York Daily News before he started his new job.

"I kept in touch with my boss and let her know the situation. They know I'm trapped in this storm and we've been texting back and forth yesterday. I took a freelance assignment for the [New York] Daily News and got trapped in Houston because of it. So I couldn't make it in," Schrader told Ladders.

Then on Tuesday morning, still stuck in a Houston hotel, he received a text message.

Schrader is concerned about the abrupt move in light of the hurricane's historical impact on the state of Texas and transportation there. He is worried that the newspaper was upset he was in Houston doing work for another paper, albeit for his start date.

18PHOTOS

Animals being rescued during Hurricane Harvey

See Gallery

Animals being rescued during Hurricane Harvey

A man carries a dog after being rescued from rising floodwaters due to Hurricane Harvey in Spring, Texas, U.S., on Monday, Aug. 28, 2017. A deluge of rain and rising floodwaters leftï¿½Houstonï¿½immersed and helpless,ï¿½crippling a global center of the oil industry and testing the economic resiliency of a state thats home to almost 1 in 12 U.S. workers. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A boy hugs his grandmothers' dog after being rescued from rising floodwaters due to Hurricane Harvey in Spring, Texas, U.S., on Monday, Aug. 28, 2017. A deluge of rain and rising floodwaters leftï¿½Houstonï¿½immersed and helpless,ï¿½crippling a global center of the oil industry and testing the economic resiliency of a state thats home to almost 1 in 12 U.S. workers. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images

HOUSTON, TX - AUGUST 27: Volunteers and officers from the neiborhood security patrol help to rescue residents and their dogs in the upscale River Oaks neighborhood after it was inundated with flooding from Hurricane Harvey on August 27, 2017 in Houston, Texas. Harvey, which made landfall north of Corpus Christi late Friday evening, is expected to dump upwards to 40 inches of rain in Texas over the next couple of days. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

HOUSTON, TX - AUGUST 27 2017: Elma Moreno comforts her dog, Simon as they are loaded on to a trucks after being evacuated from their flooded apartment. Tropical Storm Harvey is causing major flooding throughout Houston and Southeast Texas. (Photo by Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

A man carries a dog after being rescued from rising floodwaters due to Hurricane Harvey at the Highland Glen housing development in Spring, Texas, U.S., on Monday, Aug. 28, 2017. A deluge of rain and rising floodwaters leftï¿½Houstonï¿½immersed and helpless,ï¿½crippling a global center of the oil industry and testing the economic resiliency of a state thats home to almost 1 in 12 U.S. workers. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Bentley, a 10 year old maltese, takes refuge with his owner in a school after they lost their home to Hurricane Harvey in Rockport, Texas, U.S. August 26, 2017. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

People and their pets are rescued from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey on a boat in Dickinson, Texas August 27, 2017. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Kenneth and Minnie Bice prepare to sleep outside the M.O. Campbell Red Cross shelter in Aldine, Texas, United States August 28, 2017. Pets are not allowed inside and so the two are sleeping on the portico with their two dogs and a cat. REUTERS/Peter Henderson

HOUSTON, TX - AUGUST 27: Residents carry their pets and belongings along Mercury Drive as they flee flood water at their homes in Houston, TX on Sunday, Aug 27, 2017. Rising water from Hurricane Harvey pushed thousands of people to rooftops or higher ground Sunday in Houston. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Flood victims move crates with pets at a shelter in the George R. Brown Convention Center during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey on August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas.
Rescue teams in boats, trucks and helicopters scrambled Monday to reach hundreds of Texans marooned on flooded streets in and around the city of Houston before monster storm Harvey returns. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

People check in with their pets to a shelter in the George R. Brown Convention Center during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey on August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas.
Rescue teams in boats, trucks and helicopters scrambled Monday to reach hundreds of Texans marooned on flooded streets in and around the city of Houston before monster storm Harvey returns. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Evacuation residence from the Meyerland area are loaded onto a truck on an I-610 overpass during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey August 27, 2017 in Houston, Texas.
Hurricane Harvey left a trail of devastation Saturday after the most powerful storm to hit the US mainland in over a decade slammed into Texas, destroying homes, severing power supplies and forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Evacuation residents from the Meyerland wait on an I-610 overpass for further help during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey August 27, 2017 in Houston, Texas.
Hurricane Harvey left a trail of devastation Saturday after the most powerful storm to hit the US mainland in over a decade slammed into Texas, destroying homes, severing power supplies and forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

HOUSTON, TX - AUGUST 28: People make their way out of a flooded neighborhood after it was inundated with rain water, remnants of Hurricane Harvey, on August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas. Harvey, which made landfall north of Corpus Christi late Friday evening, is expected to dump upwards to 40 inches of rain in areas of Texas over the next couple of days. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

HOUSTON, TX - AUGUST 28: Evacuees make their way to dry land after leaving their homes that were inundated with flooding from Hurricane Harvey on August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas. Harvey, which made landfall north of Corpus Christi late Friday evening, is expected to dump upwards to 40 inches of rain in Texas over the next couple of days. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A vet holds a dog at a shelter in the George R. Brown Convention Center during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey on August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas.
Rescue teams in boats, trucks and helicopters scrambled Monday to reach hundreds of Texans marooned on flooded streets in and around the city of Houston before monster storm Harvey returns. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

HOUSTON, TX - AUGUST 28: People evacuate their homes after the area was inundated with flooding from Hurricane Harvey on August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas. Harvey, which made landfall north of Corpus Christi late Friday evening, is expected to dump upwards to 40 inches of rain in Texas over the next couple of days. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Up Next

See Gallery

Discover More Like This

HIDE CAPTION

SHOW CAPTION

of

SEE ALL

BACK TO SLIDE

"This weekend, the Daily News called and asked me to freelance hurricane coverage," Schrader told Ladders. "I rented a truck in Austin and drove on down and worked it. Flooding wasn't too bad and I expected to get home but ultimately couldn't. Interstate 10 was flooded."

"It doesn't really matter what I was doing. I could have gone to Austin to visit my girlfriend....Would they have rescinded the offer letter then? There's a million legitimate reasons why someone misses their first day of work, and I think being trapped in a hurricane is one of them," Schrader told Ladders. "It doesn't really matter why I was caught in the hurricane. The main thing is that I was."

Schrader is still trapped in a hotel in Houston, he said. "I'm kind of freaking out."

Beyond his job prospects, which are weighing heavily on him, Schrader said he is also worried about Columbus, which is under a voluntary evacuation order since Monday afternoon. "My house I just started renting might be flooded with all my possessions," he added. "I haven't even signed the lease yet and all my stuff is there."

The Citizen has not yet publicly commented. Ladders has reached out by phone to the paper's publisher for comment. We will update the story when we receive it.

In other parts of Houston, there have been stories of people heading to work despite the risk of rising floodwaters. The New York Timesinterviewed Gloria Maria Quintanilla, a Houston woman who walked to work in waist-high water, to get to her $10/hour job. She said she went because "It was my day to work, and I'm a very responsible person."

Schrader, for his part, expressed sadness about his job prospects after a long job search led him to Texas. "Guess I'm looking for jobs again," he told Ladders.